Watch Andrew Bird and Fiona Apple Debut a New Song They Wrote with a Five-Year-Old
Photos by Natalie Behring, Matthew Eisman/GettyAndrew Bird’s Facebook video series “Live From the Great Room,” in which various musicians sit in for acoustic sets in his home, has seen Bird collaborate with everyone from My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and The National’s Matt Berninger to Stepbrothers’ John C. Reilly. Bird’s latest living room compatriot is Fiona Apple, with whom he performed a particularly unique tune.
Debuting “Railroad Sam and Slingshot Sue,” Bird explains that the duo wrote it with the help of a five-year-old named Sam, with the song beginning as a rewording of Bird’s “Railroad Bill,” then adding Apple’s character: “Usually, he rides alone, but we decided to add Slingshot Sue to the mix, and you make a good Slingshot Sue,” Bird told Apple. “So a lot of this song was written in collaboration with this boy named Sam, and then with yourself.”
Watch the performance on Bird’s Facebook here. “Railroad Sam and Slingshot Sue” begins around the 16:30 mark. You can also watch the video for Bird and Apple’s recent collaboration “Left Handed Kisses,” off Bird’s latest, Are You Serious, below.